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Slasher
Slashers are the most common form of Necromorphs encountered in the Dead Space Universe. They are organisms deemed suitable for combat that has been infected via Infectors and spores released by the Corruption. While not dangerous alone or feral, under the control of a Hive Mind, they can be coordinated and deadly. Pathology A Slasher is not a natural organism, but rather a mutated host infected by Infectors or spores released by the Corruption. Successful creation of a Slasher requires a able-bodied host, and an infection medium to infect the host. During the infection process, the host physical attributes undergo radical changes to suit the needs of the Slasher's, such as the development of elongated arms and other appendages. Combat behaviour Slashers are easily recognized by their distinctive appearance and their loping and flailing gait when running, both of which also give them a distinctive shadow. A typical Slasher would normally attack through pure melee combat by charging at their prey. They engage in close combat by using the blades attached in various configurations to a set of distended arms that protrude at an angle from each shoulder as their main form of attack. At any time, the Slasher would grapple their prey with their limbs, giving their jaws easy access to their prey's upper body. The Slasher is capable of limited locomotion even with their legs missing, dragging itself along with its remaining limbs. The Female Slasher, one of many types of Slasher forms, has a unique form of attack whereby the form is able to shoot small, volatile sphere of matter over short distances. Though they tend to roam and hunt in packs, lone Slashers have been observed to feign death, waiting for prey to come within striking distance before they attack. Types of Slashers Male One of the most common types of Necromorphs encountered, they brandish their blades and charge towards their victims en masses as their primary means of inflicting casualties. The nature of the victim determines, to a degree, the appearance of this particular Necromorph. The weakest and most common male Slashers are created from the corpses of civilians. Their limbs are spindly and easily dismembered, though they are one of the faster Slasher variants, third only to Enhanced Slashers and Twitchers in their charge speed. Slashers that were formerly engineering personnel can be seen wearing the remains of their overalls. They have a slower charge but are slightly more resilient to damage. In contrast to this, Slashers made out of hydroponic workers have limbs that are easier to remove, but require more dismemberment than other Slashers. Security personnel that have fallen prey to Necromorph infection have the remains of an armored uniform covering their legs, making them very resilient to any leg dismemberment. This, combined with their tendency to charge early, makes these variants especially dangerous. Another Slasher variant is the Zealot Slasher, essentially an infected Unitologist with increased tolerance against dismemberment and heighten durability. Female In contrast to the Male Slasher, Females only possess a single set of arms and their blades are always located on the palms of each hand. They also maintain the green uniform of their female hosts, as well as the general shape of their breasts. This gives them a slightly more distinctive, human-like appearance, and makes it easier to differentiate these variants from others. The blades of the Female Slasher are also slightly larger than those of the male. Females also have a distinct higher-pitch roar than their male counterpart. Female Slashers are not as prone to charge as the other variants, as they possess the ability to spit, at range, miniature organic bombs that explode on contact. Enhanced Enhanced Slashers are created when an Infector injects a corpse with the Necromorph contagion. They are physically similar to the Male Slasher, though they are darker in appearance and possess glowing eyes. Enhanced Slashers are stronger, faster and more aggressive than their common counterparts. Their melee capabilities combined with sudden bursts of speed makes these Slashers formidable opponents when they catch their victims up close and in numbers. The first Enhanced Slasher Isaac encounters is in Chapter 2: Intensive Care at the Morgue, which also happens to be what was formerly the corpse of the Ishimura's Captain, Benjamin Matthius. The flamethrower seems decently effective against them, but stay back; they can deal some serious damage, even on the Easy difficulty, easily taking out half of Isaac's health in a short flurry of attacks. Twitcher These Slasher variants are created primarily from the corpses of Marines stationed aboard the USM Valor. Unlike other Necromorphs, Twitchers can survive without their arms. Twitchers are made unique by what their host body is; a trained soldier equipped with a stasis module. As a result, these "Twitcher" variants are physically powerful and incredibly fast, moving in a rapid, jarring manner. Hunter The Hunter is a unique Necromorph that was biologically engineered by Doctor Challus Mercer on the Ishimura. It is larger and more powerful that the other Slasher variants and is able to regenerate lost limbs in mere seconds, making it an extreme threat. Strategy Slashers seem to be the bread and butter enemy in Dead Space. Players can deal with them in several ways such as chop their legs off or dismember their arms. Against two or more of them you can consider using a crowd control weapon like a Line gun when you clump them together. Dead Space and Dead Space 2 Slashers have a wide variety of responses depending on which body parts are severed. *A Slasher dies immediately after losing both arms. *A simple strategy is using the Pulse Rifle to sever both legs, then remove the head when it hits the ground. *When a leg is severed, the Slasher's mobility is severely hindered, making it an easier target. However, it is also easier to lose track of it amidst obstacles and corpses. *Decapitation does not kill the Slasher. If standing, then the Slasher will walk slowly in your direction while swinging its blades randomly, but its behavior may return to normal in a few seconds. If crawling, then it will not be affected unless the damage was enough to kill it. Female slashers cannot use their projectile attack upon decapitation, but simply killing the Slasher before it can do this is more practical. *The Slasher sometimes feigns death after being dismembered, and will attack when you turn your back, get near it, or damage it. If a Slasher feigns death and you have the Kinesis module, then you should have time to find a sharp object (e.g. a severed Slasher blade) with which to kill it in order to conserve ammo. *Some Slashers, instead of charging straight towards you, will instead leap into a nearby vent (where they aren't exposed to danger), travel to a vent closer to you and burst out of it. Be wary of the location of vents in a room with multiple Slashers; stay away from them and listen for persistent bumping sounds in the ventilation system. *In Dead Space 2, players are able to use their Kinesis module to grab the Slashers' arm blades and use them as an offensive tool. A successful hit would ensure a kill. Dead Space: Extraction Slashers generally behave the same in Extraction. The same general rules apply to killing them as in Dead Space. However, there are some notable facts that are worth knowing: *Cutting off both arms is still an instant-kill. *Cutting off one or both legs will cause it to crawl at you. However, they now tend to require both arms to be shot off while crawling, instead of the original game, where they usually died after having just one blown off. *Melee is even less effective now. The unlimited ammo of the Rivet Gun is much more useful. Death Scenes thumb|300px|right *The Slasher grabs Isaac with its limbs and latches onto his neck with its jaws. If the action sequence is succeeded, Isaac will push the Slasher away and punch its head off with his weapon. This is not a guaranteed kill unless the Slasher is heavily damaged. Should the action sequence fail, the Slasher decapitates Isaac and throws his corpse to the ground before proceeding to gnaw at his headless body. *Despite their name, Slashers, when they kill Isaac in an action sequence, they don't use their blades except to hold onto him. *If Isaac is killed by a Slasher's down slash, it will split him in half, while the camera looks at the legs. *If Isaac is fatally hit by a Female Slasher's projectile, he will be blown in half, sometimes losing an arm, and/or other limbs. *The Zealot Slasher grabs Isaac and begins to stab him in the shoulder. If the action sequence is failed it stabs him in the throat and leaves him to die from blood loss leaving his body intact. If the action sequence is succeeded Isaac rips off one of the Zealot's talons and stabs it in it's side. Trivia *In the animated movie Dead Space: Downfall, the creation of male Slashers is the same in comparison to their creation in the game. However, in the movie, the Infectors never seem to produce enhanced slashers, only normal civilian slashers. Male Slashers in the movie have the blades burst directly out of the palms of their hands while a new pair of grabbing claws burst out from the abdomen. Some of the male Slashers in the game have the blades coming out of their palms like the movie depicts them, yet the movie does not show other variants of standard slashers created, that simply have their hand and arm tissue fuse into the blade; like engineer, security, or enhanced slashers. *Slashers have been observed to sometimes twitch and flail when Isaac is in the area. This feature has also been seen in Twitchers, only in an extreme form of movement. *Slashers, as with all the Necromorphs, are able to survive in a vacuum, as seen in Chapter 2. *In the Multiplayer portion of Dead Space 2, Slashers can be seen walking around and attacking Human players. Because the only confirmed playable characters on the Necromorph team are the Spitter, Lurker, The Pack, and the Puker, the Slashers are A.I. controlled and will assist the Necromorph side. They will act the same way as they do in Single player. Gallery File:Slasher concept.jpg|Concept art of the Slasher. File:Slasher01.jpg|Early concept of the Slasher. File:Dead Space Ripper.jpg|Artwork depicting Isaac defending himself against a group of Slashers with a Ripper. File:Surrounded.jpg|Artwork depicting Isaac surrounded by a group of Slashers. File:Playing dead.jpg|An example of a Slasher feigning its "death". File:Dslasher.png|A Slasher with remnants of the P.C.S.I SEC RIG in Dead Space: Downfall. File:DeadSpace2Dementia - Slasher.png|The Slasher seen in Dead Space 2's Dementia trailer. File:concept uni slasher.jpg|Concept art of a Zealot-variant Slasher. File:Uni_Slasher.jpg|A Zealot-variant Slasher approaches Isaac from behind. Appearances *''Dead Space'' *''Dead Space (Comics)'' *''Dead Space: Downfall'' *''Dead Space: Extraction'' *''Dead Space: Extraction (Comics)'' *''Dead Space: Ignition'' *''Dead Space 2'' Sources